How Things Should Be
by Maya Fawkes
Summary: Annoyed by the lack of Reela content on the show nowadays? So am I. Which is why I wrote this story. This is my take on how things should work out with Reela. Bad summary, hope you like the story better.
1. Crappy Day, NotSoCrappy Ending

Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of the television show ER…if I did, Ray and Neela would be together by now 

**This story starts at the end of **_**As the Day She was Born**_** and goes one from there. I was really annoyed by the lack of Reela in the episodes we've seen so far in the season. Therefore, I tweaked parts of the storylines to include more Reela. Reviews are great, but don't be too harsh, please.**

The door clicked open as Neela stumbled in, drowning in the darkness of the apartment. She had just barely managed to leave County without shedding any more tears after her silent breakdown with Lucien. However, her resolve broke as she stepped through the doorway, the waterworks threatening to begin again. _I can't do this anymore_, she thought as she fumbled around, searching for the light switch. _I cannot do this any-damn-more._ She flinched as the lights came on and fought the urge to shut them back off and remain in her gloom.

She dumped her bag on the couch, peeled her jacket off, and just stood there, looking around at the barren kitchen counters and coffee table. _This is actually quite pathetic, Neela. Normal people have a few things strewn around here and there. They have lives, they do stuff, they don't just stay at home in their free time and clean as though they suffer from severe OCD._ Neela's eyes stopped at the answering machine. She dragged herself over and pushed the flashing red button. Then she walked toward her room, bracing herself for the string of messages from people trying to sell car insurance to her when she didn't even drive. The first message: the recorded voice of a female describing the benefits of such-and-such insurance. BEEP. A second message: the cable company. BEEP. Lucien's voice caused Neela's head to pop out of the bedroom for just a second, his voice asking Neela if she was okay. _No, I don't want your bloody car insurance, you were supposed to fix my damn cable today, and I would be completely lying if I said 'Sure, I'm fine, of course, don't worry about me'. _Neela finished changing as the answering machine beeped for a third time and walked to the fridge, searching for something half-decent to eat.

The next voice that came resulted in her very painfully bumping her head on the top of the fridge as she dashed to the machine. "Hey, Roomie. Uh, I was gonna call earlier, but I got a little, uh, a little caught up at PT. So yeah, anyway, um, happy birthday. Okay, so I guess I'll, uh, I'll talk to you some other time, then. Bye." BEEP. _End of new messages._

Neela stared at the machine for a few minutes, incoherent thoughts whirring around inside her head. _He called. Oh my God, he called. He called? Why did he call? Why the bloody hell would he call? After everything I've put him through, why would he actually call? He didn't call. That wasn't him. I was just imagining it…'cause I miss him…He called? _She replayed the message twice more, still finding it so hard to believe that he would call her after everything he had said to her that day in Mercy. The fact that they had corresponded with letters was a big deal on its own; now this? What was she to make of it? No matter how many times he said that he didn't blame her, she would never believe it.

Right now, she was too physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted to think straight. She would call him back tomorrow…or at least consider doing so…


	2. Typical Days in the ER?

_Stupid Brenner. Stupid, stupid Brenner. Who the bloody hell does that wanker think he is? Who the hell tells a patient that he has cancer over SPEAKER PHONE?!_ Neela was fuming. How someone as ridiculously unfit to be a doctor as Brenner was could possibly be ANY type of employee in a medical setting was completely beyond her. They had argued about Brenner's lack of consideration from the room of Neela's and Abby's Korean patient all the way to the front desk in front of the entire staff.

"I knew you were tightly wound, but-" he started, but he was interrupted when Neela slapped his across the face. The entire area around the front desk fell silent. When Neela saw the look of indignation on Brenner's face, she hauled off and slapped him again. Hand to his cheek and seething, he marched away from the amused expressions of the staff. As soon as he left, Neela was bombarded with pats on the back and _He had it coming_'s and an occasional _You're my new hero_. Rather than feeling better, Neela gave a half-hearted half-smile and walked away, finding herself imagining a certain former Doc Rock standing in front of her with that somewhat-cocky-yet-absolutely-irresistible grin. _'Everything you can imagine is real'. Said by a man who probably had more mistresses than paintings. Imagination bloody stinks._

A typical day in the E.R. was always busy, but today it was beyond hectic. Neela had just reached there when Chuny zoomed past her on her way to one of the trauma rooms. Neela sighed as she hurried to the locker to drop of her bag and her jacket before diving in to her work. Maybe Lucien was right; maybe she was working too hard, but then again, it wasn't like there was anything else for her to do. _Don't even go there, Neela. Just do your work; don't think about anything or anyone else._

A couple of hours later, and Neela was thoroughly engrossed in her newest patient as Morris, Larry, and Laverne worked around her on Jessica, a young woman who, along with her boyfriend, Daniel, was injured severely in a car accident and flown to the hospital via helicopter. Daniel had been patched up and was now in the room with them, panicking about the welfare of "his girl". "How's she doing? Can I take her home?" he asked Morris as he rocked from side to side nervously, his eyes darting back and forth from Morris to Jessica to Neela.

"Well, not quite yet. She's getting better, but it'll be a while before she's ready to go home." Morris answered, looking away from his patient just long enough to give Daniel a reassuring look. Daniel resumed his erratic pacing, making Neela wonder when the floor would start to wear down from all that friction.

"Is there anywhere I can make a call?" he asked.

"Sure," Morris replied. "Here, I'll show you." The two men stepped out of the trauma room, Laverne following like a lost puppy, leaving Neela and Larry to work. A few moments later, the EKG began beeping rapidly, resulting in a profane expression of frustration that Morris returned just in time to hear.

"What the hell happened?" he shouted, diving right back in, all four of them working to stabilize her again. Daniel came back five minutes later, his anxious manner turning to visible horror.

"You said she was gettin' better. You told me she was getting' better!"

"She was!" Neela cried. "But she just got worse, it can happen! We're trying here, okay?" But as much as she tried to convince herself, Neela knew Jessica's condition would not improve, that it would take a turn for the worst. Daniel brought his hands to his head, moaning over and over that 'this was not supposed to happen'.

That was when she saw it – a glint of silver in his right pant pocket. Not sure what to think, Neela pretended she hadn't seen anything and kept pre tending to work. She tried to catch Morris' eye to signal to him that something was not quite right, but the fellow doctor was trying just as hard to do whatever was possible to salvage whatever was left of Jessica's health.

However, Neela did not have to pretend for long. Daniel pulled what she had only perceived as some glinting symbol of danger, a silver revolver.


	3. Hostages

**AN: For those of you who, like me, heard that quote ("Everything you can imagine is real") for the first time, it's a quote by Pablo Picasso. Apparently, he had a whole lot of affairs in his lifetime…**

**As you all could probably tell by now, I've changed quite a few things to incorporate Neela more. However, soon after this point is when I'll change the storyline to get some real Reela. Hope you like!**

_Oh…my…God._ What else could Neela possibly think? There's not much anyone could think with a gun pointed at the head. Morris stared from the gun to Neela, then to Jessica, then back to Neela, and then to Daniel's face.

"You're gonna fix her. Right now. You guys are gonna fix her," Daniel stated simply. He took Neela's arm, firmly, but more gently than she had expected, and pulled her toward the windows and doors. "Come on, cover 'em up, hurry, cover 'em up."

"Daniel, come on. Just- just talk to me, huh? Just tell me what's going on? What happened? Why are you doing this? You don't have to. Whatever you did, we can fix it. It's not too late." Morris was speaking more seriously and calmly than Neela had ever heard him before; he made it sound as though this was a situation he often found himself in and as though he had prepared for it, speech and everything at hand.

"No, no, it's too late. We have to get outta here. I just wanna get my girl outta here, okay?" Daniel asked, almost pleadingly, as he pulled Neela back to Jessica to continue the hopeless attempt to save her.

The four heard the door click open suddenly as Gates entered to get some materials. Listening to Daniel's incessant pleading, he looked at them curiously. Morris motioned with his head at Daniel's pocket. Gates saw the gun, as Neela and Morris could tell, bringing some slight relief that Gates would now be able to go and contact the police.

However, instead of leaving, Neela saw him slowly approach Daniel while grabbing hold of a metal tray from the counter. Understanding what Gates was up to, she tried to catch Morris' eye to signal to him that Gates was about to do something foolish, but Gates managed to reach Daniel first. He smacked the tray against Daniel's head, causing Daniel to fall to the floor and Gates to leap on top of him. The two men wrestled on the floor, Gates yelling for Neela to run and Morris trying to pry Gates off of Daniel. Neela knew about the young clown-school-aspirant with the injured leg in the room next to theirs and ran to it to get the boy out.

However, Neela was stopped in her tracks by a sharp, searing pain on the back of her lower leg. Blood flowed freely from her leg as she saw the gunshot wound caused by the bullet fired during Gates' and Daniel's duel. Everyone froze as she screamed in pain, and the men got up, Daniel being the first to recover from the shock that the gun had been fired and pointing the gun at Gates. "See what you did? Now she got hurt!" Daniel scolded Gates sincerely. _Why does he care? If he can carry a gun, then he can shoot without hesitation._

The boy continued struggling in the room next to them. Daniel hurried to the door to see the source of the noise, then turned to the four doctors in the room. "You and you," he commanded, pointing at Gates and Larry, "Get the kid outta here."

"No way I'm leaving her like this," Gates retorted as he went to approach Neela to help her.

She struggled to move away from him. "Go, Tony. You've done enough damage already." Stunned by the quiet harshness of her words, Gates left to the next room, Larry in tow.

Daniel watched through the window until the men left with the boy, and then turned to see Morris kneeled next to Neela, examining her wound. "I need to help her, Daniel. But I'm gonna need another doctor to help me."

"No, no more doctors. No more people come in here. You- you guys fix my girl first."

"Daniel, would you be able to function normally if you'd just been shot in the leg? Neela's a surgeon, we can't help Jessica without her, and she can't help until we get her some help first."

"No. Wrap it up or something, I don't know. You can help Jessica without all that."

"Daniel-"

"DO IT!"

"Morris," Neela finally spoke up, her voice shaking from the pain, "I can still function. It's my leg, not my brain."

"But Neela, look at you-"

"Morris, it's okay! Daniel, listen to me. We've been working on Jessica for hours. She isn't going to get any better. You have to accept that." Neela was shocked by the calmness in her own voice, even though she was still trembling.

"NO, okay? You guys are gonna MAKE SURE she gets better."

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT US TO DO, DAMMIT?" she exploded. "FINE, okay, fine! Here, we'll stay here and keep poking and prodding her insides and pretending to be making progress, okay?"

"Just- just do it. Do it," Daniel quietly said.

_He knows,_ Neela thought to herself. _He knows she's not gonna wake up. But he's never going to accept it. We're stuck in here._

Hours later, Morris and Neela were still standing over Jessica, Daniel circling them. Bright stars erupted in front of Neela's eyes as they had been for the past hour. Her blood loss was becoming 

significant, and she stopped her rummaging to grip the bed, trying to steady herself. "Neela? How are you holdin' up?" Morris asked; he was becoming very concerned for his colleague.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy." She closed her eyes for a few seconds, took her right glove off, and held her hand to her head.

"C'mon, c'mon, keep trying. Don't stop," Daniel pleaded. Morris turned to him, his expression a mixture of anger and desperate frustration.

"Look at her, Daniel! You shot her! How the hell is she supposed to even think straight?"

Daniel was about to retort when suddenly, the phone rang again. It was the fourth time in the past hour. _Wish they'd stop wasting their time calling and actually do something._ Daniel went over and picked it up. "Can we get outta here now? What? No, she's workin' on my girl, she ain't talkin' to anyone!"

_Is he talking about me? Why would they talk about me?_ Neela looked at Morris, who simply shrugged in response. After further argument, Daniel finally conceded, "Fine, but only for a few minutes, and then no more talkin' to no one. And no talkin' 'bout getting 'em outta here!" He held out the phone receiver to Neela. "Here, some guy wants to talk to you."

Somewhat puzzled, Neela limped over to the phone. "Hello?" she asked.

A very familiar voice came from the other end. "Neela? God, are you okay?"

It was Ray.


	4. A Turn for the Better or Worse

**Haha, I'm glad you guys like this so far! I want Ray to come back so badly on the actual show, but I guess I'll have to satisfy myself with letting my imagination run wild :D.**

Neela felt her blood freeze. "…Ray?" she asked in almost a whisper.

"Yeah, Neela, it's me. Listen, I swear to God, if he hurt you, I'll kill him!"

"Oh my God, it's- it's really you. Wait, aren't you in Baton Rouge? How'd you find out about all of this?"

"It's all over the news, Neela. I think one of the staff reported it to the cops as soon as they all found out what was going on. Some guy I didn't recognize, I think his name was Brannaugh or Bresner or something."

_Brenner,_ Neela thought. _Leave it to him to deal with the media._

"And I was only in Baton Rouge when I heard what happened. It was just good timing, I was channel surfing when the story first came out. As soon as I saw it, I called one of these guys Brett knows who's dad works at the airport, told him I needed an emergency flight to Chicago, and he actually got me booked on one about an hour and a half later. I just got on the plane right now; it'll take about 2 and a half hours – no stops, thank God." Neither seemed to want to think about the fact that in 2 and a half hours, Neela, and Morris, for that matter, may not be in any condition to talk to anyone.

"I can't believe you managed to pull that off, Ray." Daniel began motioning for her to get off the phone, while Morris gave her an apologetic look. "Look, Ray, he wants me to get off now."

"No, wait, Neela. I- Can you promise me something?"

Neela paused for a few moments. "Anything. I owe you that much."

"You don't owe me anything. But…can you promise me that you'll get out okay?"

There was silence for a few seconds. Neela squeezed her eyes shut; she didn't know if she could take the pain any longer, and not all of the pain was from her bleeding leg. Both knew that keeping any hope was futile when Neela whispered, "I promise."

"…Okay."

"Ray?"

"Yeah, Neela?"

"I'm sorry. For everything."

"Take that back."

"What?"

"I don't wanna hear you apologize for anything. This wasn't all your fault. We both screwed up. I'm sorry, too, but apologizing isn't going to change anything. Just get outta there okay; then we can fix it. We can fix everything. Can you do that?"

"I want to."

"Try."

"Okay."

"And tell Morris he needs to get out okay, too. Just 'cause I'm a cripple doesn't mean I'm not enough of a man to kick his ass for that hockey game you wrote to me about."

Now it was Neela's turn. "Take that back."

"What?"

"You're not a cripple. And you're more of a man than any guy I've ever known." Daniel began to move over to Neela to end the call himself. "OKAY," she told Daniel, "I'll hang up! Hold on!"

"Fine, then, one last thing."

"What is it?"

Ray paused as though he was afraid of her reaction. "Roomie, you're still the best friend I've ever had…I love you."

The tears that had built up in Neela's eyes finally spilled over. "Uh, now would be a pretty good time to say something…if you want to," Ray tried to joke.

Finally, the words that Neela had wanted to say to Ray for the past couple of years, but was unable to muster the courage for, came out at last.

"I love you, too…Roomie," she added with a soft chuckle. She heard him laugh on the other end, relief chipping away a little of the anxiety in both of their hearts. Why was it suddenly so easy to say? It took a life-or-death situation for her to finally spit it out?

"Take care, Neela."

"You, too." Neela heard the click of the disconnected line and put the receiver back. She looked back at Morris, then at Daniel, and was somewhat caught by surprise at the look in his eyes. _Regret._

He didn't want to do this to them, but his Jessica couldn't be gone. That would make all of this pointless. She had to come back. "Can you- can you get back to work now…please?"

Neela nodded slowly, keeping her eyes locked in his as she hobbled back to Jessica. He looked like he had to say something, but didn't know how to.

"Look, I'm- I'm- I'm sorry, okay? I didn't wanna do this. I just wanna take her home. I want this to be all over."

"Well," Morris finally spoke up. "It's kinda hard to believe that when you've got a gun pointed at you, Daniel." Daniel looked from Morris to the gun, staring at it for a few seconds. He lowered it, walked to Jessica, stared at her for what felt like eternity, and placed the gun next to Morris' hand on the bed.

"Daniel, I know you never meant to hurt anyone. But look at Neela, she can barely stand properly, she's so dizzy."

"I'm fine, Morris."

"No, you're not, Neela. Daniel, we've all made mistakes. Take me, for example. I've made more than I can count. But we can fix this."

Daniel shook his head as he continued to stare at Jessica. He bent down to kiss her on the head. "What do you say, Daniel?"

"I can't go back out there. I wanna stay with her." They weren't going to get out any time soon.

"Daniel, can we at least stop trying to help her? There's nothing more we can do, I'm sorry." Morris said, stepping back and removing her gloves.

"…Yeah. Yeah. Just- just stop. She's a fighter. She'll find her own way out of this. I know."

Neela backed up against the wall and slid down against it until her knees gave way and she came to the floor. Her vision was alternating, blurring for a few seconds and coming back into focus. She had been steadily bleeding for over seven hours. It was a miracle she was even conscious and fairly stable. _Morris must've done a good job wrapping it up._ He hurried over to her. "Neela? What is it?"

"I…I can't. It's getting all blurry."

"Stay with me, Neela. You can do this, c'mon." Daniel turned to look at Neela.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen. I- I thought the barrel was empty; I was using the gun to scare you guys into doing what I wanted you to do. I didn't know there was a bullet left." He was crying openly, much harder than Neela had. The two doctors couldn't help but feel sorry 

for him. They were all exhausted, but no one was as worn down as Neela. She felt her eyelids drooping.

"Neela, no, c'mon, keep your eyes open. Stay with me." She could feel Morris patting her face. _Keep your eyes open. Stay with me. Keep your eyes open. Stay…_

Morris' voice faded away as Neela's eyes finally closed.


	5. The Blame Game

**Oh my God, you guys, I am sooooo, soooooo, SOOOOO sorry for the wait! I've been ridiculously busy with end-of-the-school-year stuff, and I still kinda am. But I think I've left you folks waiting long enough, so here's chapter 5!**

"We have landed at O'Hare International Airport. It is now safe to remove your seatbelts. Thank you for flying with us." Ray gripped the armrests of his seat and pushed himself to a standing position. _There's a perk to being disabled; people let you out first._

It was just over an hour when he found himself in the taxi on his way to County General. He hadn't thought to pack much, only the essentials, so he managed to bypass baggage claim. The only part that took time was wheeling himself over to the exit to hail a cab. His mother had insisted repeatedly that she come with him, but this was something he needed to do on his own. He had his prosthetics, but his skin grafting surgery was not due for a while, so he could not expose the stubs of his legs to the metal of the prosthetics for too long at a time. _But I still managed to get this far; I just hope it's not too- No, don't even think about it, Ray. She's a fighter, she's fine._

Ray knew that the taxi was close to County when he heard the excited murmur of the crowd and the voices of cops amplified through loudspeakers. As the cab pulled up to the ambulance bay, Ray's pulse became rapid. _Dammit, she's still in there._ Ray tapped on the window anxiously as the cab driver got out, walked to the back, opened the trunk, pulled out Ray's wheelchair, and opened it as Ray opened the door and struggled to get out. "You sure this is your stop, sir?" asked the driver, looking confusedly at the police cars and crowd.

"Yeah, this…is most definitely my stop. Thanks." Ray handed him his total fee and then a tip for helping him out. As the driver thanked him and drove away, Ray searched the crowd for a familiar face. Abby stood off to the side with Gates and Sam, sheer anxiety etched onto their faces. Ray wheeled over to them and asked them the obvious, "She's - they're still in there?"

The three whipped around; Abby was the first to recover from the shock. "Ray?" she whispered as she glanced at his legs before eyes returned to his face. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Baton Rouge?"

"Flew here as soon as I found out. Any news from them?" The three knew what Ray really wanted to know, but what could they possibly say to reassure him?

"We haven't heard anything new, Ray. But, uh, there was a - a gunshot earlier. A few hours ago," Sam uttered.

Gates hesitated before he raised his voice. "It was Neela," he confessed, concentrating on the ground in front of Ray as he spoke.

Ray suddenly felt ice cold. _But she's fine. I spoke to her a few hours ago. And I'd know if it were all over. I'd know…wouldn't I?_ He refused to consider the negative possibilities and looked at the building, almost as though he were trying to concentrate all of his energy toward her mentally. _Neela, you have to get out of this…for me…please._

"I need another doctor in here NOW!" came Morris' shout from the entrance as he came running outside, the chief inspector and a few other cops following him.

Abby, Sam, and Gates rushed forward, Ray following as fast as he could. "What happened, Morris?" Abby shouted as they reached him.

"Daniel gave in - sorta; he said I could come get someone as long as he and his girlfriend were allowed to stay in a separate room and no one else could get in." He paused as his eyes met Ray's; Morris spoke as though only to him. "She got hit in the leg when this one," he tilted his head toward Gates, "decided to tackle Daniel instead of getting out to call the cops. She stayed awake for a few hours, amazing she managed that, but now she's unconscious. She lost a lot of blood; I need help stopping the bleeding and giving her a transfusion. Abby?" She nodded as she followed him, Sam hurrying behind them. Gates was about to pursue them when Ray spoke up.

"Don't. You stay here." When Gates made to protest, Ray shot him the worst glare he could muster. "I told you, there are two things I won't let you screw around with, but I still let you hurt her; I'm not gonna forgive myself for that any time soon." Ray began to follow Morris, Abby, and Sam.

"But-"

"Go to hell, Gates." Ray did not turn to look at Gates' staggered expression. It was a harsh thing to say, but it was due to this man's foolishness and need to play the hero that harmed the only woman Ray had ever honestly cared about more than himself, and now, due to this man, he might lose her forever.

A few minutes later, Ray was watching helplessly as Morris and Abby worked on Neela, Sam trying to help in every way she could. Everything Ray had learned in medical school had somehow slipped out of his brain, and he could not figure out what his friends were doing to help Neela. All he knew was that it wasn't working. "Why isn't she getting better?" he demanded constantly. He remembered getting sorely aggravated whenever patients' relatives asked him this questions as he worked, but now he finally understood how it felt to be on that side of the fence.

"Ray," Abby advised him, "maybe you should wait outside. You'll just get more and more worked up if you stay in here."

"I am not worked up; I-" he stopped at the expression on Abby's face. The mixture of sympathy and frustration was evident. "Fine, but I'm watching from outside." He wheeled out.

The sound of a door opening echoed in the hallway as Daniel walked out of the room he has allotted for himself and Jessica. Ray looked up at him. _That's him. That's the guy who started all of this._

There was a long silence before Daniel spoke. "You're the guy that doctor was talking to? You're Ray?" Ray's cold stare answered his question. Daniel paused before he continued. "She 

tried to help my girl; that other doc tried to help me. But she was right. My girl's gone." Ray had not seen a more broken man in his life; would this be him in a little while? His anger was not gone, but there was the slightest drop of sympathy for the man standing before him. "That one's your girl, right?"

It was Ray's turn to pause before he replied, "Yeah, she's my girl."

"She's the strongest person I've ever seen. She's gonna pull through just fine, you – you'll see. And when she does, I- I'm gonna- I'm gonna turn myself in. It'll be over. You guys are gonna be okay."

Ray continued to look at Daniel, the angry heat of his stare piercing Daniel so that he could not meet Ray's eyes. "I hope you're right."

The tension in the air was broken by Abby's swearing as the EKG beeped again rapidly. Ray pressed his hands against the glass. _I hope you're right._


	6. Waiting and Waiting and Waiting

**Hey guys, sorry if the following isn't medically accurate, 'cause I have a strong feeling it isn't...**

Ray made his way to the door as Sam ran out. "Wait, what happened?" he yelled at her.

"She's an O positive," Sam yelled back as she rushed down the hall. "Only found one match in the blood bank before, just realized before we used it that it's been marked as problematic. Have to see if I can find another one, but I don't think there is."

"Dammit," Ray whispered. _Wait a second. Was it possible? Was it just a coincidence?_ Ray wasn't sure whether to believe the sheer instance of chance and didn't even realize what he was saying as he shouted, "I'm an O positive!"

Sam stumbled to a halt and turned to Ray. It was completely unexpected, and yet, Ray could tell that what Sam was thinking. Now that he said it, she knew that there was no other way Neela could possibly ever have lived through this without Ray playing the major role in her rescue. It was fate; in one way or another, Ray had to be the one to save her. She paused for a split second, and then said, "Well, what are you waiting for? Come on!" He rushed after Sam. 

A blood bank technician, who had followed after Morris, Abby, Sam, and Ray when Morris mentioned the need to give Neela a transfusion, was already prepping in the blood bank room. Before Ray knew it, Sam was rushing back to the trauma room where Neela was, miraculously, still holding on to life, even if by merely a thread. The technician had filtered the blood as well as she could in the past few hours; now everything was riding on the bags of Ray's blood in Sam's hands. Daniel had followed them and now watched as Sam hurried back while Ray sat in the wheelchair, shoulders slightly slumped as he moved slowly to wheel himself back. He was still a bit fatigued after having ounces of blood taken from his body. Daniel silently walked over, gripped the handles of the wheelchair, and pushed the chair to the trauma room. Ray didn't realize that he had reached the trauma room until Daniel released the wheelchair and walked to the other side of the hall to give Ray some space. Ray looked at him and nodded his appreciation before entering the trauma room yet again.

Abby and Morris were already in the process of setting up the transfusion as Ray wheeled into the room. He watched as the blood flowed from the pouch through the IV in Neela's arm, his blood. Now, there was really nothing left to do, but wait.

_Waiting. Waiting._ That's all Ray had been doing ever since he met Neela. Waiting for friendship. Waiting to see her every chance he got, even if only for a split second. Waiting to get a chance to tell her how much more she meant to him than any other girl he'd ever met. Waiting for her to let him back in after she shut him out as a result of Michael's death. Waiting for her to realize how wrong Gates was for her. Waiting for her to realize that she was meant to be with her Roomie. Waiting for her to visit. Waiting to hear her voice assure him that she was alright. Waiting to actually see that she was alright. And now, waiting for her to open her eyes. He couldn't lose her again.

His train of thought lasted longer than he had expected, and he was soon brought back to reality by Abby's voice. "She's coming back. Ray, she's coming back."

Neela's eyes opened.

**Sorry, I know it's kind of short, but soon the Roomies will be together :D!!**


	7. Finally Making the Deal

The silence that had consumed the room broke just a few seconds later. "Neela?! Honey, talk to me; can you hear me? Do you understand what I'm saying?" Abby asked, her face hovering over Neela's, examining it with Morris and Sam following her example. Ray fought the urge to pummel over all of them and come to Neela's side; she had just regained consciousness and needed some space. After staring at Abby's face for a few seconds, Neela nodded slightly. Abby, Morris, and Sam breathed a sigh of relief in unison. Ray felt the release of the invisible yet unbreakable hand that had been squeezing whatever hope he had left out of his heart; he was free from all fear. He felt like he could finally breathe again.

"What happened?" Neela just barely whispered.

"What's the last thing you remember, honey?" Abby asked.

"It was getting all blurry. Daniel said I could stop working on her; I went and leaned against the wall…Daniel- What happened to Daniel?"

"He's fine, Neela," Morris spoke. "He's with Jessica…he finally came to terms with her being gone. You lost a lot of blood; that's why you lost consciousness." Neela nodded.

"How long have I been out?"

"Hours…and hours. But you're okay; that's all that matters," Sam replied.

A soft sigh escaped Neela's lips. There was another silence as she recollected everything that had happened to her over the course of the day. After a few moments, Neela opened her mouth as though to ask something, then closed it, and then opened again. No words would come out of her mouth; she could not decide whether to ask or not. "What is it, hon'?" Abby prodded.

_What's are the odds? But then, you never know; he might be…_ "By any wild chance, is- is Ray here?"

For the first time since Neela woke, Abby, Morris, and Sam turned to look at Ray. Ray wanted to rush to her side right then and there. _But would she want me to? After all, talking on the phone and in person are two different things… _"Yeah, he's here. You wanna talk to him?" Abby asked, understanding Neela's internal dilemma.

Neela hesitated. Then she noticed that Morris and Sam had been taking turns looking toward the door. "Oh my God, he's here, isn't he?" she whispered just loud enough for Abby to hear; her question was met with a nod from her friend. "If you guys don't mind, if he's okay with it, can- can he and I be alone for a little?"

Abby, Morris, and Sam looked back yet again at Ray. He nodded, the numerous emotions running through him apparent in his eyes. " 'Kay, we'll be right outside if you need us, alright?" The three walked to the door.

"Hey, buddy, listen," Morris stopped when he reached Ray, placing a hand on Ray's shoulder. "She's still kinda weak, so don't let her push herself, okay?" Ray nodded. Morris patted Ray on the shoulder and followed Abby and Sam out the door. Ray looked at Neela for a few seconds before wheeling over to her.

Neela was flat on the bed, still weak. The only way Ray could look at her face properly and help her look back was for him to stand up. He gripped the arms of his chair and pushed himself up, trying not to let Neela see him struggle. A tear fell from the corner of Neela's eye, thankfully unnoticed by Ray as he finally came to his feet so he could half-sit on, half-lean against the bed. A slight, sad smile graced Ray's lips as he looked at Neela's face. The loss of blood had brought a pallor to her face. Ray couldn't help but wonder what could have happened; the prospect of losing her was too much for him to consider.

Neela could not believe he had actually made it. The phone call itself had been like a dream; she did not think Ray would indeed be standing- _standing_- there so close to her within hours. "Hey, Roomie," came Ray's voice softly, hoarse from the hours he had spent with his throat constricting with the tension. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. You're here," Neela responded, stating the obvious and chuckling at the realization. "I'm sorry, I just- I- I wasn't sure that I'd really see you here."

"I know. It's okay. I _am _here, and you're okay. Nothing else matters." A moment of silence. "God, Neela. I just…kept having all these horrible thoughts. That I was gonna lose you. I couldn't have taken that, Neela." Ray wrapped his fingers around Neela's small hand. "Neela, I love you. I need you." His other hand cupped the side of her head.

Neela brought her free hand to his hand on her head. "I love you, too. You know, I don't think I would've stood a chance if you didn't come. Just the fact that you're here. I think that's what brought me back…Well, that and the blood transfusion they gave me," she chuckled again, "Whoever's it was." Ray looked at her sheepishly, scratching the back of his head like a little boy just caught with one hand in the cookie jar. "Oh my God. It was you, wasn't it?"

"One and the same." Ray stroked Neela's face.

Neela's heart was in her eyes. "Ray." Tears finally ambushed her face as she reached her hand up to his cheek. "Thank you," she cried, pulling his face down to hers as she kissed him. All of the love that she had pent up in her heart ever since she first felt close to Ray went into the tender kiss, and Ray realized what an emotional roller coaster Neela had been on the whole time. She pulled away, and then Ray kissed her back, cupping her head in both hands.

The two knew that they had a lot to talk about, but right now, they were content with knowing that they were there together, and that this time, it would stay that way.

"Hey, Roomie? One more thing," Ray said.

"What is it?" Neela tensed slightly. _Things are just turning out okay…what now?_

Ray whispered in Neela's ear. "If you ever, _ever_, _EVER_ scare me like that again, I'll…I'll handcuff you to that Mai Ling girl who kissed you at Abby's and Luka's wedding for a whole day."

Neela couldn't help but laugh, yet shudder at the thought.

"Deal."

**Well, that's the end, you guys. Thank you so, so, SO much for your reviews. I'm so glad you guys liked it, since it was my first fanfic. I hope you like the ending! I have another idea for a fanfic, so you haven't heard the last of me yet…Muahahaha! (heehee.)**


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